A group of North Vancouver teens are participating in a new hands-on educational program that will give them the skills needed to pursue careers in the piping trades.
More than 15 students from Mountainside secondary are currently enrolled in the inaugural 23-week ACE IT Piping Foundation program at the Squamish Nation Trades Centre. As with other Accelerated Credit Enrolment in Industry Training programs, students are able to take their first level of technical training in a trade while at the same time earning high school credits needed for graduation. Participants in this new piping program will earn hours toward Level 1 certification in plumbing, sprinkler fitting and steam/pipefitting. They will also get a real-world perspective on the piping trades by job shadowing workers in the industry.
The ACE IT Piping Foundation program was made possible through a B.C.'s Skills for Jobs Blueprint partnership involving the Squamish First Nation, the Industry Training Authority, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, North Vancouver School District 44 and the private sector.
According to the province's Labour Market Outlook report, there will be one million job openings in B.C. by 2022, many of them in skilled trades and technical occupations. The report lists pipefitters and sprinkler system installers in the top 60 of projected in-demand occupations to meet future labour force needs.
